


the fairest sun i'd ever seen

by bookofleviathan



Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, First Kiss, Nature, Nosebleeds, Roommates, THEY DESERVE IT, and this is fluff, hodgson falling out of kayak, they're trans lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26788183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookofleviathan/pseuds/bookofleviathan
Summary: Louisa Hodgson and Alison Gore go kayaking.
Relationships: Hodgson/Gore
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	the fairest sun i'd ever seen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bastaerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bastaerd/gifts).



Louisa Hodgson hated nature. She knew this, as did her roommate, Alison Gore, who had dragged her out here in the first place.

Well, maybe _dragged_ was a bit harsh. Alison’s hiking group had canceled their plans for the weekend, and she’d been really disappointed, so when she asked Louisa if she wanted to go kayaking up at the lake on Saturday, Louisa couldn’t find it in her heart to tell her no. But even though the first mosquito bite had brought on an immediate wave of regret, she was determined to have a good day, for Alison’s sake if nothing else.

They’d piled into their kayaks - _Erebus_ and _Terror_ , Alison had named them, some kind of historical reference - and were off. Louisa thought she’d been doing pretty well for someone who had not, before that morning, known what a kayak was. They’d been out on the lake for nearly an hour when Alison suddenly stopped rowing.

“What are you-”

“Shh, Lou, don’t scare it,” Alison said, waving for Louisa to paddle closer, which she did as quietly as possible until their kayaks were nearly flush with one another, close enough for Alison to pass her the pair of binoculars she’d had around her neck.

“It’s a great blue heron,” she said, pointing at a spot on the shore. Louisa tried and failed to look through the binoculars, eliciting a quiet chuckle from Alison. “That’s not quite right. Here, let me-”

Alison put her hand on Louisa’s kayak at the exact moment that Louisa leaned in to hand her the binoculars, tipping the boat a bit. Louisa panicked and flailed a bit, causing the kayak to capsize, dumping her into the lake. Alison grabbed her by the life jacket and righted her. “Oh my god, are you okay? Your nose is bleeding.”

Louisa spluttered for a moment. Once she caught her breath and had the chance to wipe her nose, she responded. “Yeah, I’m good. Think I whacked myself in the face with your binoculars on the way down.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve still got them,” Louisa said, pulling them out of the water. “Sorry, they’re a bit, uh, moist. Did I scare off your bird?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. Just… glad you’re alright, even if you do look like a mess.”

Louisa wiped her face again. “Goddamnit. This eyeliner was supposed to be waterproof.”

“I’d be more concerned about the whole ‘shirt covered in blood’ thing,” Alison said. “Come on, let’s get you back in your boat. I’ve got a shirt in my car you can borrow.”

-

“So, where do I change?”

“Anywhere,” Alison said, handing her a flannel shirt she’d retrieved from the trunk of her Subaru.

“What, _out in the open?_ ”

“Uh, yeah. We’re in the woods. It’s not like you’ve got an audience.”

Louisa gave her a look. “It’s not like I’m _alone_ , either.”

“I’ll turn around."  Alison turned her back, and Louisa peeled off her stained, soggy t-shirt. After a moment, Alison heard some grunting noises, and then a thump, and then a small, muffled voice asking, “Hey, Allie, can you, uh, help me?”

Alison turned around and had to stifle a laugh. Louisa had tried to pull the shirt on over her head and had somehow gotten tangled in it. “Here,” Alison said, reaching for the shirt. “You’ll have to take it back off to fix it.”

Louisa grumbled and let Alison help her out of the shirt. “You don’t have to take the bra off, but it might help. Looks like it’s soaked, too.”

“Turn around again.”

“Fine,” Alison said, turning. “You know, we live together. It’s not like I haven’t seen your tits before.”

“You _haven’t_. Not since I started hormones, anyway,” Louisa whined. “Let a girl have her privacy.”

“As you wish, princess,” Alison mumbled. “Can I look now?”

“If you have to.”

Louisa was holding up the shirt to cover her chest. Alison blushed. She’d always found her roommate attractive, but something about the light filtering through the leaves made her golden-blonde hair look radiant, like sunlight itself.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Sorry! Sorry. If you’ll unbutton the shirt, you can just- here.”

Louisa got the shirt unbuttoned and turned around to slip it on, one arm after the other this time. She turned back around, shirt hanging open in the middle, too-long sleeves flopping at the ends of her arms. “There. How do I look?”

_Like a goddess,_ Alison didn’t say. _You look like Aphrodite herself, in the most ridiculous way possible._

“Let me button it,” Alison said instead, “and I’ll help you roll the sleeves up.” 

She started at the bottom, moving up the placket until the shirt was buttoned, then grabbed Louisa’s arm and unbuttoned the cuff, rolling the sleeve up. Only after she’d finished rolling up the other sleeve did she notice how close the two of them were standing.

Alison looked up at Louisa, still holding onto her arm. Louisa was blushing now, too. They stood there, too close to each other, until one or maybe both of them decided that this wouldn’t do, and then they were kissing.

When they finally pulled apart, Louisa was grinning ear-to-ear. “I’ve wanted to do that,” she said, “for a really, _really_ long time.”

“Me too,” Alison replied, breathless. “God, how do you get your lips so soft?”

“I’m glad you noticed! I’m trying this new moisturizing routine, it’s really-”

“I’m hungry,” Alison interrupted. “Let’s go get lunch at that diner we passed. You can tell me on the way.”

As Alison strapped the kayaks back down to the roof of her SUV, she could have sworn she heard Louisa mumble something like _I guess nature isn’t so bad after all_. The two of them climbed into the car, Alison in the driver’s seat and Louisa in the passenger’s seat, leaning her head on Alison’s shoulder, holding her free hand, and commencing a drawn-out ramble about lip care products. _All_ , Alison thought, putting on her sunglasses and pulling out onto the back road that had brought them here, _is right with the world._

**Author's Note:**

> For the Terrortober 2020 prompts "spyglass" and "ships," except I've gone with binoculars and kayaks. I refuse to apologize for this.
> 
> Special thanks to Jim for inspiring this, and to the rest of the Kois for helping me develop it.
> 
> Title from "Not With Haste" by Mumford & Sons because I am a 2012 hipster at heart.
> 
> There is a Princess Bride reference in here, as well.


End file.
